Olympic athlete Missy Franklin attends the 2012 Golden Goggle awards at the Marriott Marquis Times Square on November 19, 2012 in New York City. / Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin recently revealed a care package she received this summer from pop sensation Justin Bieber could have caused her to lose her amateur eligibility. Franklin has maintained her status as an amateur so she can start swimming for the University of California next year.

Franklin is a self-professed Bieber fan. She was excited during the Olympics when he tweeted her, recorded a video message and sent her a box of stuff following her domination of the pool in London.

"[Bieber] sent me a huge care package, which was so awesome," she said to Today in August. "I walk home and my mom is so cute; she took everything out and set it out on the table. I had T-shirts and CDs and posters and all that stuff."

Little did she know the swag was tainted with the faint whiff of professionalism.

"It was really sweet of him," Franklin told ESPN's Wayne Drehs. "But it was considered a form of special treatment that could have jeopardized my amateur status. I've given up way too much and sacrificed too much to keep a Justin Bieber T-shirt and lose it all. So I sent it back."

The NCAA has no control over coaches leaving teams midseason, the college football bowl system and teams switching conferences without regard for anything except dollar signs, but when it comes to making sure Missy Franklin can't wear a gifted "Believe" T-shirt, they operate with a brilliant efficiency.